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Evolution and Revolution of Social Media and Policy Sciences - Monday, 5 October 2020, 12:22 AM

Reading the journal of Matthew R. Auer and his exploration of Harold D. Lasswell’s “science of communication,” enlightened me more on the impact of social media not only on governmental policies but also on the different aspects of our existence. Before we conclude whether Auer’s article is still relevant today, let me sum up first how he systematically discussed social media concerning politics and policymaking, Laswell’s science of communications, power value, social process sketch of social media in the service of diplomacy, and appraisal of e-communications rapids. Social Media, Politics, and Policymaking

According to Auer, most users of social media are young people who can overwhelm the social networks with their opinions that can “sway views and spur action” (Lasswell). The traditional way of getting the support of the public is through political parties and elected officials who shape public opinion. But “reliance on social media for political news has increased rapidly... more Americans named Facebook as the site they most often used for political information in the month leading up to Election Day 2016 than named any other site, including those of high-profile news organizations such as Fox News, CNN, and major national newspapers” (Garrett, 2019). There are pros and cons that we can see here, like the misinformation or fake news that may be shared, which cannot be edited, like the traditional broadsheets and TV networks. Before the misinformation is corrected, its effect had already wreaked havoc on the concerned parties. However, “there are also indications of increasingly important policy functions performed by social media. Some illustrations point to social media’s role in doing nothing less than saving people’s lives” (Auer, 2011).

Social Media and Lasswell’s Science of Communications

Here, Auer is trying to contrast the nature of social media as not “specifically designed for collecting or disseminating information on politics or public affairs,” versus the transmission of a communication by the newspapers and television shows. But social media, notwithstanding its loopholes, are increasingly important as the “communication process of human society” (Lasswell, 1948).

Social Media and the Power Value

In the words of Auer about the power value, he summed it up by saying, “what matters is how systems of communication, and the actors who participate in them, operate in functional terms and to what effect” (Auer, 2011). As discussed in social media, politics, and policymaking, young people consist of a big chunk of media users. Therefore, it is natural for them to influence and sway the opinion of the public and thus giving them the power value. “Now and in the years ahead, policy scientists might explore how a younger, socially networked generation justifies its accumulation and application of power, including coercive power” (Auer, 2011).

Social Process Sketch of Social Media in the Service of Diplomacy

Lasswell & McDougal define the social process as “a comprehensive map of both basic, overarching, authoritative structures and rules, and the ‘particular decisions’ that emerge from this architecture (Lasswell & McDougal, 1992, pp. 26–29). On the other hand, Cambridge Dictionary states that diplomacy “involves the management of relationships between countries.” With the overwhelming usage of social media, even international policies are somehow affected by the ever-increasing voices of social media users regardless of the veracity of the information they shared. Those sharers of communication tend to “feel empowered and enlightened as never before” due to the lack if not the absence of censors. I like the statement quoted by Auer from New York Times that said, “Where once there was a pretty bright line between journalist and political operative, there is now a kind of a continuum, with politicians becoming media providers in their own right, and pundits, entertainers and journalists often driving political discussions” (Carr, 2010). Consequently, there could be “changes in institutional resources and value outcomes.”

Navigating the e-Communications Rapids: An Appraisal

E-communications are released so fast because they do not go through the editing of the conventional news outfit. As a result, errors and misinformation are oftentimes overlooked. And with the deluge of information, it is very hard to understand what the message is trying to bring.

Conclusion

Now, the question is the relevance of Auer’s article after a decade of its publication. I would like to believe that even though the article was written more than ten years ago yet the principles it discussed were still relevant today. As he commented on the works of Lasswell, Auer said that “In one variant of the skill revolution, what Lasswell alternately called the ‘permanent revolution of modernizing intellectuals’ and the ‘unnamed revolution,’ specialists collaborate directly with the state, with opinion makers, and with professional appraisers of policy’ (Auer, 2011). Since technology is ever-evolving, where social media is created, therefore, whatever the new platform is introduced, it will always affect the political, social, and even personal life of an individual. The pros and cons of social media in our life will always be there. But it is up to the policymakers, social media users, and social media inventors to have a dialogue and come up with a kind of check and balance system for the benefit of all stakeholders. That is now up to new researchers to theorize how this problem will be resolve while enjoying the use of social media.

Sources:

Auer, M. R. (2011). The Policy Sciences of Social Media. Policy Studies Journal, 39(4), 709-736.

Garrett, Kelly R. (2019). Social media’s contribution to political misperceptions in U.S. Presidential elections. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0213500

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/diplomatic